A Christmas Wish on Arran (Scottish Romances #4)

Chapter Twenty-Four

‘Beth,’ Daisy said impatiently. ‘Beth Ferguson.’

Now he was surprised. He wasn’t expecting Daisy to say that at all. Maybe she had a doppelganger, and he was mixing her up with someone else.

‘She’s been brilliant.’ Murray sounded equally as smitten. ‘Very cool and she worked in London for ages. So she knows stuff and she’s interviewed loads of famous people. It’s way better than having my dad there getting in the way. He is so embarrassing.’

‘I see.’ Callum tried to look in his mirrors, clinging onto any view of this woman they were talking about.

‘He says she’s great to work with as well. The best colleague he’s had in ages. And he’s mega old, so that says a lot.’

Callum took a moment to process this. ‘Ah, I see. That’s good . . .’ He wondered how to tease out more information from the kids without sounding creepy.

‘She said she’ll come to parents’ night if anyone’s folks want to talk to her about the project, she said she’d be happy to,’ said Daisy. ‘I think you should. She’s really nice. You’ll like her.’

It was now dark and Callum was grateful Daisy couldn’t see his cheeks colour. He was completely confused as to whether it was her, although if it wasn’t then it had to be her long-lost twin. But if it was her, then why did she use a different name? And why had she come to work here? His brain couldn’t quite keep up with all the what ifs and whys.

‘I am so hungry,’ said Murray. ‘Can’t wait for dinner tonight. It’s pizzas.’

‘That’s what we’re having too. I hope?’ Daisy turned to Callum.

‘Worry not, yes, we are.’

As they pulled into Murray’s driveway, Murray shouted his thanks to Callum and said he would call Daisy at the weekend about an assignment they had to finish.

‘See you later mate,’ said Callum.

‘Bye Muz,’ Daisy called affectionately as he slammed the door shut. Then she pulled out her phone and scanned it for new messages, the stuff that seemed to feed teenage minds. ‘Did you make the pizza dough already?’ she asked.

Callum nodded, gave her a smile then focused on the winding roads that would take them home. But he couldn’t stop himself from probing for some more details about this reporter, Beth. ‘Did she say what brought her to Arran?’ It was the best nonchalant tone he could muster.

‘What’s that?’ muttered Daisy.

‘The reporter Beth. Why did she come to work here on the island?’

‘I know , right .’ She managed to pull her eyes from her phone and look at Callum. ‘We said the same thing to her but she just laughed. She said she used to come here when she was younger and it was a place that she’d never forgotten or something like that. The most special place in the world . Sounded like some kind of advert for Visit Scotland. Anyway, you get the idea. It was a bit cringe.’ She looked back at her phone, which had just pinged.

Callum tried to shrug casually but felt tingles running up and down his spine. The most special place in the world . . . He couldn’t believe how just a few words could have such an effect and make the years fall away. As he parked the car outside the cottage, Daisy unclicked her seatbelt and jumped out the car declaring that she was “starving”.

‘Go and wash your hands,’ he tried to sound breezy, ‘and I’ll roll out the bases.’ But when he walked back into the house and was greeted by Ruby — who wagged her tail as though he had been out the country for weeks rather than half an hour — he found he was completely fixated on finding out if it was her. Although, deep in his heart, he knew it must be. He could feel it. But he needed some kind of confirmation.

He pulled out his phone and Googled her name. As her picture appeared multiple times on the search page, he dropped his phone in shock and it clattered onto the kitchen table.

‘Everything okay?’ Daisy’s voice was cheerful but with an impatient edge. She had wandered back into the kitchen wearing her pyjama bottoms and a huge sweatshirt.

‘Sorry love. Just coming.’ He realised he would have to park the research on Beth for now. Feeding Daisy was the priority, otherwise she would get hangry. ‘There’s some dip and veggies in the fridge if you want. That should keep you going for a few minutes at least . . .’

‘Aw thank you.’ Daisy turned from the fridge with all the toppings she wanted to put on her pizza. ‘You even got me the vegan mozzarella.’

Callum grunted. ‘If that’s what you want to call it. I’ll be amazed if it even melts.’

‘You have no faith.’

He looked at her speculatively for a moment and realised she was fairly spot-on with that statement. He used to have faith, but that was a very long time ago, at a time where his future stretched out before him and his world was full of possibilities and adventures. Until his life was turned upside down in the space of a night and everything changed. Glancing over at Daisy — as she turned on the oven and reached to get out the pizza trays — he realised that her arrival in his life had been another major curveball. He never expected in a million years that being a parent to Daisy was the direction his life would have taken.

‘Um, earth to you. You need to roll out the bases.’ Daisy pointed at the bowl where the dough sat, then handed him the rolling pin.

He inclined his head slightly and laughed at her. ‘Let’s get to it.’ He rolled up his sleeves and sprinkled flour across the table. But, as he kneaded the dough, he realised that Daisy had anchored him to the world again when he had lost every other ounce of hope. His love for her was so fierce that it threatened to overwhelm him at times. As he rolled the dough into thin bases he knew that, yes, he would definitely have changed the circumstances that led to her living here with him on Arran. The loss of Isla had caused agonising heartache for all of them. But Daisy was like a ray of sunshine, and she had transformed his life in a way that he didn’t think would be possible. He owed her absolutely everything.